


Insomnia

by Spoodlemonkey



Series: Inktober/Goretober [18]
Category: The Expendables (Movies)
Genre: Getting Together, Humor, Insomnia, M/M, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 19:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16181216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoodlemonkey/pseuds/Spoodlemonkey
Summary: Luna stares with poorly concealed disgust as Lee pours the salad dressing into his cereal. He’s humming distractedly to himself, Barney can just hear it from where he’s seated on the worn leather couch. He replaces the dressing in the fridge, grabs a spoon and turns, finally spotting them all staring at him.He stops.“What?”





	Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> Part of my Ink/Gore/Whumptober series. Unbeta'd so let me know what you think.

“We have a problem.” Thorn announces to the living room at large. The early morning sunlight is still weakly filtering in through the large industrial windows of Barney’s warehouse. It’s too early for this shit but they have a mission to prep for in less than twenty-four hours and time is of the essence. 

“WIth the intel?” 

“Yeah, no.” Thorn gestures behind them to the fully equipped kitchen Tool had forced him to install years ago. Barney cranes his neck but can only make out Christmas by the table. He’s got a bowl of cereal in one hand- the fruity shit that Galgo keeps replacing every time one of them throws it out- and a bottle in the other. Ah crap.

“Did he just-” Luna stares with poorly concealed disgust as Lee pours the salad dressing into his cereal. He’s humming distractedly to himself, Barney can just hear it from where he’s seated on the worn leather couch. He replaces the dressing in the fridge, grabs a spoon and turns, finally spotting them all staring at him.

He stops.

“ _ What _ ?” Oh and he’s cranky. 

“You okay Christmas?” Toll asks as Barney says,

“Nothing.”

Lee squints at the pair of them, and yeah, Barney can see the dark bags under his eyes now, isn’t sure how he missed them before. 

“M’fine.” He mutters and makes an exaggerated show of taking a  _ big _ bite of his cereal. Barney is still waiting for the spit take a moment later when he finishes chewing. He doesn’t get one. Lee does frown down at the bowl for a moment before scooping up another mouthful.

“Something weird about your cereal mate,” he tells Galgo before coming around to steal the space left next to Barney on the couch- as if it wasn’t  _ always _ meant for Lee.

Galgo opens his mouth- likely to put his foot in it- but Caesar claps a hand on his arm, shaking his head. This isn’t the first time they’ve dealt with this and arguing is going to get them  _ nowhere _ .

 

::

 

“Does this happen often?”

“Just when he’s got something bugging him.” Barney admits. He and Doc are carrying a crate of grenades between them, they thankfully hadn’t needed, back into the hanger. The others come and go, unloading the plane so they can all go home and decompress for a bit before meeting back up in the morning again. 

“What if we just sat on him until he fell asleep?”

“Tried it before,” They pass Lee who’s been staring into an empty sack for the better part of two minutes now. “Drinks later?” He calls out, startling Lee back into movement.

He blinks at Barney for a long moment, like he’s parsing out the words, before a grin breaks out across his face.

“Planning on forgetting your wallet again?”

Barney laughs but doesn’t make any promises.

 

::

 

So booze should have done the trick, had looked like it  _ had _ done the job when Barney had tipped Lee into bed the previous night and left him there looking like he was about a second away from dropping off. 

But when Barney emerges from his room the next morning, barely awake himself, Lee’s already in his kitchen fiddling with the coffee maker. 

“Morning,” he greets without looking up. Exhaustion lines his body though and Barney knows that he’ll find the same dark bags, even more pronounced now. He wonders what’s got Lee’s mind so twisted up that its keeping him awake night after night. Wonders why Lee hasn’t said anything to him about it yet. They’ve both always been private people, but between the two of them, it’s like any and all barriers just melt away. 

Lee’s got a hand braced on the counter like it’s holding him up and for a long moment Barney considers just grabbing him and dragging him to Barney’s bed, exhausting him properly until he finally gets some sleep.

But that’s not something they do.

 

::

 

Lee heads straight for the coffee maker once they get to the warehouse with a mumbled greeting to the others already gathered there. He fills up two mugs, handing one to Barney before practically  _ inhaling _ his own. Barney is thwarted from his own when Toll appears, swiping it from his hands, ignoring the glare he receives. 

Messing with Barney’s coffee first thing in the morning is  _ dangerous _ .

“I wouldn’t drink that.” Is all he says though. Barney shoots an alarmed look Lee’s way but Toll continues cheerfully, “Doc spiked the coffee.”

“The  _ entire _ thing?” 

“Only way to keep Christmas from getting suspicious.” He sets the coffee down on the counter. Doc joins them and together they watch Lee talking to some of the kids. 

And keep watching.

“How fast is this stuff supposed to work?” Barney eventually asks when it’s clear that Lee is just gaining momentum in whatever argument he and Thorn are having. He isn’t showing any signs of stopping.

“Pretty much instantly.” Doc mutters, staring at the coffee pot like it’s personally messing with him. “Maybe I didn’t put enough in?”

“Put enough in what?” Gunner asks, setting the now empty mug back on the counter. 

“ _ Shit _ .” Barney gets out of the way as the meds hit Gunners system and a moment later he’s crashing to the floor, sound asleep. Toll isn’t as lucky, gets dragged down under the giant, kicking and swearing, but he’s dead to the world.

“What the hell happened to him?” Lee and the kids wander over to inspect the unconscious giant. His mug is empty when Barney takes it from him. 

“Vertigo.” Doc lies quickly as Caesar tries to extract Toll from under Gunner. 

Barney is careful to throw out the entire coffee pot when Lee isn’t looking. 

 

::

 

“Have you thought about just  _ asking _ him what’s wrong, brother?” Tool is no help when Barney goes to him for ideas. Out of all of them, he’s known Barney and Lee the longest, and for some reason Barney thought he’d have some insightful answer for him.

Clearly he was wrong.

“That stubborn ass wouldn’t tell me if he was  _ bleeding _ let alone what’s keeping him up at night.” He grumbles, wincing when Tool digs in  _ particularly _ hard with the needle. They’re working on a new piece, beneath his raven, but really Barney’s bored and restless and Tool just wants a blank canvas to play on so he’s given him free reign of his body. 

“Seems to me I know another stubborn ass just like that.” 

“ _ No one _ can out stubborn Christmas.” 

“But you’ve got the best chance at it,” Tool steps back, sets the needle down and takes a long drag from his pipe. The smoke smells sweet when he exhales, familiar and grounding. “I guarantee if you just talk to the fool you’ll both feel better.” 

“You know what’s bugging him,” Barney accuses. 

Tool just grins at him. 

 

::

 

It comes as no surprise that the televisions still on when Barney lets himself into Lee’s apartment just after midnight. He tosses his keys on the kitchen table when he passes it, shrugs off his jacket and leaves it over one of the chairs before following the sounds down the hall. 

“See you finally replaced that screen you broke.” He comments, dropping down next to Lee on the couch. He’s at least changed into comfortable looking sweats and what Barney  _ swears _ is one of  _ his _ old Ranger shirts, threadbare as it is. But he still looks tense, exhausted, when he meets Barneys gaze. 

“Got bored staring at the wall.” 

Barney kicks his shoes off, gets comfortable. He takes in the sparse decorations, the lack of bottles on the coffee table as he puts his feet up, the way the curtains are pulled, room dark save for the light coming from whatever Die Hard movie Lee has on.

“You ever think he looks a little like Church?” Lee muses and it startles a laugh out of him. 

“Shit, you sure you aren’t drunk?”

Lee huffs out a laugh and even that sounds exhausted.

“Nah, too tired.” And that is telling. It usually takes a hell of a lot more to get anything out of Lee. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Barney offers and Lee shifts so their shoulders are pressed together, a shock of warmth in the cool room. Lee doesn’t say anything and for a few minutes the silence is filled with the sound of John McClane taking out the bad guys in bursts of explosions. He’s not sure how Lee can stand this kind of stuff with all that they see and do, it drives Barney crazy but Lee loves it. After the shit they go through Barney’s looking for something more light hearted. 

Lee’s hand comes to rest on his thigh, high enough up that even if they touched casually like this all the time, it would be clear this wasn’t strictly  _ buddies _ . Barney feels his breath catch in his throat. It takes him a minute to piece together the whirlwind of his thoughts.

“This is what’s been bugging you?” 

Lee shrugs but doesn’t pull his hand away. Barney rests his on top of Lee’s so he can’t.

“I thought we didn’t do  _ this _ .”

“No,” Lee counters, “ _ you _ don’t do this.”

Ah. Well then he’s been a  _ colossal idiot _ . Tools probably been laughing his ass off this entire time.

“I better make it up to you then.” He decides and the grin he gets in return is positively  _ wicked _ .

 

::

 

“He’s looking better,” Toll muses as they gather around the bar. Lee’s been tucked next to Barney’s side all night, only parting to help Smilee grab the next round of beers for the group. “Finally get some sleep?”

“Looks that way,” Barney says carefully, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips as he watches the broad stretch of Lee’s shoulders in  _ yet another _ one of Barney’s shirts he’s stolen. 

“What’s your secret, man?” Barney casts a glance at Toll, considers telling him but decides to save it for when he  _ really _ wants to mess with them. 

“Books on tape.” Is all he says with a wide grin. 

Toll doesn’t seem to believe him but he’s saved from further questions as Smilee and Lee return. He accepts the refill, watching with a careful eye as Lee winces as he sinks down onto the chair next to him. Apparently he isn’t the only one to notice because Mars speaks up.

“You alright?”

“Fine,” Lee takes a sip of his beer and settles in with an air of smugness that is far too attractive for his own good. “Just went for a ride last night and think I pulled something.”

Barney bites his tongue so hard he tastes copper, trying to keep a straight face. 

Next to him Toll lets out a strangled sound and it seems he wasn’t as successful as he’d hoped. 

Lee smirks, nudges Barney’s foot under the table with his own and helps rib Toll as he chokes on his beer. 

**Author's Note:**

> Barney Ross secretly loves Rom Coms.


End file.
